Like this:

One – the whole “how social media is changing…” advertising, communications, business, human resources, shopping, friendships, family etc etc meme. Social media is a disruptive, transformative force rooted in a base human need for connection. We understand it is changing everything and nothing at the same time.

Two – “27 questions you must ask in social media” type list posts which don’t actually give you things to do or questions ask but which are there to simply prove the author is an unquestionable expert on whatever it is they recommend you ask questions about.

Three – hypocrisy. I am sure I’ve just written I hate lists of questions in a list form.

Like this:

Leo Laporte’s declaration that he’s killing his use of Twitter and other extraneous social media is confirmation that while these sites/networks are fun to use, we should always consider our blogs as our social media hubs. I’ve been guilty of neglecting Blogging Me Blogging You (now simply edlee.ca) in favour of Twitter purely because it (Twitter) fits into my life slightly easier and takes less time to share thoughts/links.

It makes me feel like everything I’ve posted over the past four years on Twitter, Jaiku, Friendfeed, Plurk, Pownce, and, yes, Google Buzz, has been an immense waste of time. I was shouting into a vast echo chamber where no one could hear me because they were too busy shouting themselves. All this time I’ve been pumping content into the void like some chatterbox Onan. How humiliating. How demoralizing.

I’m not saying I’ll be posting here more often but I am saying I’m going to try!

And herein lies the big issue with blogging. It’s not just about having the skill to blog (yes, you need to know how to write well) but you need a firm commitment to the practice of blogging. Time is such a precious commodity (more than oil) and for me there are days when I just can’t find that 20 minutes to write. I have a ton of thought-ware, but it’s about dedicating time to write it down.

Like this:

John Dodds, from the excellently titled “Make Marketing History”, brings us news from The Times that seven of the ten companies with blogging CEOs have seen their share values rise.

It makes sense – after all, if I were investing, I’d be more likely to invest in a CEO whose blog I read and, by extension, trusted. The same applies for a company I was about to buy something from – human nature means you stick with what you know, and a blog is a way for everyone and anyone to get to know you.

Cult of the CEO

This, naturally, assumes that the cult of the CEO still drives our society or, at least, our investors. If the superstar CEO is still pervasive, and there’s no reason to suggest otherwise, then blogging would be a natural outlet for them. After all, which section of society has a larger ego than bloggers, apart from the CEOs, and which section of society has more to say than CEOs, apart from the bloggers?

…and CEO’s certainly personify their company – Chrysler’s former Chairman Lee Iacocca’s surname stood for I Am Chairman of Chrysler Corporation. Always. Just imagine if he had had a blog…

Blogging Works on the Margins

Now, I’m not saying that you can read this, recommend to your CEO they should start blogging and that their company’s share price will sky rocket or orders will start flooding in.

What I think is that, on the margins, a company that embraces the openness and transparency blogging brings, will enjoy a competitive advantage over a company that doesn’t. Just as a blogging PR would have a competitive advantage over one that doesn’t when competing for a job.

Investment/Research Idea

NB – I didn’t see if the companies mentioned in the study outperformed their respective indexes (indices?) or just experienced growth. I wonder if Bernhard (who wrote the article) could answer that? I guess it’d be a pretty major thing. Essential if you were thinking about starting a Blogging CEOs 100 index.

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Everything posted on this blog is my personal opinion and does not necessarily represent the views of my employer or its clients. DDB is a global agency so any mention of any organisation could be a conflict of interests but not one that I can disclose.